Featured Reader - Natty

Natty contacted me a while back, and I was very impressed by her blog. She is a designer who crochets and creates various crafts. I asked her a few questions, and here's what she had to say:

1. How did you learn to crochet?Today its very easy to learn crochet/tricot, the world of Internet brought us that blessing. I first learned the basics from my family (grandmother and mother) but the Internet is where I most learned and where I learned to expand my creations into "modern" creations. I read blogs, participate in google groups and watch youtube videos. There is teaching in every language, from the Latin and German languages, to the Arabic and Russian. For English speakers here is a start and I cannot forget to mention my first online teacher Elaine Crochê (Portuguese).

2. How do you decide what you are going to make?Well it is hard I confess... I have a list of things I want to make and I try to start on the things I need for me at that moment. Now that its summer, I tend to make more bikinis and tops in terms of clothing.

3. Do you sell your items? Or make custom orders? I sell my items, but they are custom made because I don't enjoy that factory feel of making the same product over and over again. And this is an advantage for the people who buy from me because I do it especially for them. I don't use patterns as a sure thing, I try to adapt the design with and to the client and try to make every piece special.

4. What part of the world do you live in?I live in Portugal, which is a country in the southwest Europe. We form a peninsula with Spain - Iberia Peninsula. So to North and East we have Spain, on the South the Atlantic (and Morocco’s) and to West is the Atlantic again. We also have two sets of islands - Açores and Madeira.

5. How has your culture or environment influence your creativity?I guess I am a mix of many cultures that my country has. Portugal has been under the power of the Arabs, Romans, Celts, Spain and others - all those cultures left their legacy here. We cannot forget the role that Portugal had during the "Conquer of the Seas" during the XV century and of course our African/Asian colonies. In my works I try to show myself as the citizen of the world that I am and not just Portuguese, even tough I love and embrace my nest. My biggest influences comes from Africa, I have a heart connection to Mother Africa ever since I was born (my mother says so). My family is a big influence as well. Both my great grandmas made loom work, crochet and other crafts. One of my grandma’s hand-made jewelry and the other is a seamstress, who crochets and does beautiful traditional Portuguese rugs - Tapetes de Arraiolos. I guess it's genetic as well!

To read more about Natty, check out her blog at Natty Crafts. The blog is in the Portuguese language. For assistance with translation, go here. She has also been featured on the Naturally Beautiful Hair Website: Reader Appreciation & Style page.